TexasCHLforum.com

I wonder what the story from the other car sounds like. . .

"This maniac pulled up behind us and was tailgating us, essentially threatening our lives with a deadly weapon (vehicle). They were driving aggressively and forcing us off of the road. I felt like I had to draw my firearm in case they swerved into us. (OR: I thought I saw one of them with a firearm, or saw guns / gun cases in the backseat and knew they were armed.) We never tailgated them. Traffic was heavy, so all of the cars were close together. After they pulled over and let us by, they stayed behind us for another 30 miles, trying to intimidate us."

THIS IS NOT my version of the events or an accusation that you are lying.

I'm trying to point out that a road rage incident will never be clear to decide who the instigator was. You never know when the witnesses started paying attention and what their interpretation of events might be. If they reported that you had a gun (either seeing what you thought was hidden, seeing the cases of the other guns, or just happened to guess right). . . this could have turned ugly.

I'll echo the responses that encourage avoidance and deescalation. Even if they do something irrational to force your hand towards self defense, your version of the story sounds like a lot of witnesses will say that you had a hand in escalating the chain of events.

Your car is not a time machine. . . it shouldn't be used to catch up when you're in a hurry. Ultimately - while I do practice highway courtesy and allow people to pass on the left - if everybody's going the speed limit, there is no "fast lane".

Glad nothing bigger came of the event.